Biting ‘Wind’
‘Wind River’ a chilling, compelling drama in harsh setting
One can argue that in the tales penned by Taylor Sheridan, the setting is a character, one almost as important as the protagonist.
An actor known to many for portraying David Hale on the FX series “Sons of Anarchy,” Sheridan in recent years has earned acclaim as a screenwriter. He penned 2015’s “Sicario,” a gripping story examining the drug trade-fueled violence along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, and last year’s “Hell or High Water,” which explores the clash of poverty and wealth in a slice of West Texas in the Comancheria region.
With “Wind River,” which Sheridan says he sees as the end of a thematic trilogy that looks at the modern American frontier, he has traded the dry heat of Texas for the harsh, sometimes fatal cold of west-central Wyoming, home to the Wind River Indian Reservation.
“Wind River” sees Sheridan making his directorial debut and is, like “Sicaro” and “Hell or High Water,” a generally excellent if imperfect work of dramatic cinema. This murder-mystery is a slow-burning yet engrossing tale that just goes a bit too big in its climactic moments.
It begins with a woman frantically — desperately — running barefoot in the snow. We will come to know her as Natalie (Kelsey Asbile), a lovely young person from the reservation who, when we next see her, lies dead a few miles from the nearest home. She is discovered by Jeremy Renner’s Cory Lambert, an agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who protects animals by tracking and, if necessary, eliminating their predators.
Cory knew Natalie — he is close with her father, Martin (Gil Birmingham of “Hell or High Water”), who feels as if he has already lost his son, Chip (Martin Sensmeier), to drugs — and, we will come to learn, has experienced a similar devastating loss.
“I could tell you it gets easier. It doesn’t,” Cory tells Martin, adding that he will get used to the pain. “Take the pain, Martin. Take it. It’s the only way you’ll keep her with you.”
(That’s the kind of strong stuff you get from Sheridan, and, when it’s delivered by a talented actor such as Renner, it really lands.)
Because the tribal police — led by police Chief Ben (Graham Greene) — aren’t equipped for a case like this, help from the FBI is requested. What they get is Elizabeth Olsen’s Jane Banner, a green agent from a warm climate who was in the region solely for weapons training and doesn’t even come with the type of outerwear that would allow her to survive the snowmobile ride to the crime scene.
Jane is given a hard time for the feds’ habitual disinterest in helping the people here, but she quickly illustrates that she is there to offer any assistance she can — even if she believes that’s not much.
She thinks the best she can do is get a qualified team of FBI agents to the scene, which is made impossible by a ruling by the well-meaning local medical examiner, played by Eric Lange (“The Bridge”) whose performance in this one scene, along with Olsen’s, really elevates it. These are good people trying to do the right thing but who are handcuffed by protocols.
With no cavalry on the way, the trio looks to investigate the murder themselves, despite their not being truly equipped for it. The trail, of course, will grow increasingly treacherous — for Cory, both literally and emotionally.
“You won’t get the answers you’re looking for — no matter what you find,” his ex-wife, Wilma (Julia Jones), warns him.
Although this is his debut as a director, Sheridan shows what feels like an experienced hand guiding “Wind River.” That is, perhaps, until it’s boiling point, where what we see almost feels as if it’s from another movie. However, even if these two sequences feel out of place, they — especially the first — are well executed. Expect to be in edge-of-your-seat territory.
Renner (“Arrival”) is simply outstanding throughout “Wind River, giving an understated performance that never ceases to be compelling. Olsen — who, like Renner, has appeared in Marvel Cinematic Universe films “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2014) and “Captain America: Civil War” (2016) — is nearly as good. She saves her best work for an emotional but subtle scene late in “Wind River.”
And, again, this sometimes-brutal part of Wyoming — so what if Utah stood in for its neighbor to the northeast during filming? — is as big a character as Cory or Jane. Among other strengths of Sheridan’s script is what he has to say about how the American Indian has been treated and life for the people living in Wind River.
“Wind River” was made with relatively little money — it’s reported budget is $11 million — but is richly satisfying.
As has become a habit, we will eagerly await the next work from Sheridan, in this case “Soldado,” a sequel to “Sicaro” due next summer that he wrote but did not direct. Thanks to “Wind River,” we’ll eagerly await the next time he’s in the director’s chair, too.
‘Wind River’
In theaters: Aug. 18. Rated: R for strong violence, a rape, disturbing images, and language.
Runtime: 1 hour, 51 minutes.
Stars (of four): 3.5.